A NEWLY released prisoner broke the terms of the sex offenders’ register days after coming out of prison by staying in the same house as a 15-year-old girl.

Lewis Stewart was under a duty to tell the police about his whereabouts but failed to did so and also restarted a relationship with an ex-girlfriend in breach of a restraining order.

She told police that he became controlling and violent and cut her off from her friends and family after he moved into her home in Dawlish, leaving her depressed and anxious.

Stewart was released from an earlier sentence for breaking a sexual harm prevention order in February this year and the new offences were committed between then and July.

He stayed at the same house as a 15-year-old girl and two of her friends on the nights of February 24 and 25, very shortly after his release. The police found out about it when they carried out a spot check and found he was not at home in early March.

Stewart, aged 27, formerly of Third Avenue, Dawlish, admitted breaching the sex offenders’ register and breaking a restraining order when he appeared at Exeter Crown Court.

His sentence was adjourned by Judge Peter Johnson for a fact finding hearing to assess whether he had been controlling and abusive to his ex-partner while breaking the restraining order.

The Judge said that Stewart’s version of events and that of his ex-girlfriend were ‘poles apart’ and it is necessary to hear evidence to resolve the issues.

Stewart is on the register because of a conviction from Exeter Crown Court for six offences of  sexual activity with a child and four of breaching an order not to meet under age girls.

He had sex with one 15-year-old girl in Dawlish and a second 14-year-old was found hiding in his bedroom after she ran away from home.

Mr Thomas Faulkner, prosecuting, said Stewart has previous convictions for 57 offences including previous breaches of restraining orders and the sex offenders’ register.

He was released in February and stayed with a female friend later that month at a time when her 15-year-old daughter was having a sleepover with two friends.

He went on to rekindle a relationship with an ex-partner who he was banned from contacting by a restraining order. He stayed at her home and she later told police that he was verbally and physically abusive.

She told the police he stopped her going out, took control of her life and left her frightened, scared, anxious and depressed. A victim impact statement says she is still living in fear.

Mr Rupert Taylor, defending, said the mother of the 15-year-old knew all about Stewart’s past and did not have a problem with him staying at her home.

He said Stewart’s ex-partner had made the first contact with him, rather than vice versa, by calling his father and saying she wanted to see him again. He denies being abusive or controlling once they got back together.